Mark Levinson

Hi all,

Has anyone got any experience of this manufacturer? I have always thought that they were highly regarded, but looking around the 'net there seems to be some mixed opinion over the reliability of the recent offerings - the older (80's?) kit is reportedly sturdy however the newer stuff is prone to problems mechanically (mostly disc transports I think).

There is a no.38s pre-amp available on eBay that I think might be a significant step up from my current pre - anyone heard this and can offer an opinion?

Thanks

Neil

 

Hi Corruption

Mark Levinson has indeed been through hard times in the last year or so ,with all the ups and downs at Harmon Kardon(who own the brand along with Revel and Lexicon). The closure of the original factory and re-location stuffed their production up for a long time however it is as far as i know back and running well . I had not heard about any reliability issues.

As to your question about older Levinson kit ,well worth looking at the no 38 pre is a gooden but like a lot of this stuff will only sound its best if used balanced . Bear in mind that if you are using it with Uk balanced kit the phase is different the hot and neutral pins are swoped round ( +,-) earth stays the same. A lot of high end US kit will allow you to switch phase. So your input kit CD etc will be ok but your power amp will still be out of phase. You will need to get a cable made/bought that has +,- swoped at the amp end to keep the phase the same.

I first encounter this issue a few years ago with a Marantz cd 7 (American balanced wiring ) and an Italian amp (European/Uk) wiring . I had a lead made that took care of the phase by swoping the + and - . This simple thing made IMHO, Experience a big difference . Maybe i am sensitive to this but in every following occasion this problem arises i can hear the difference when the source/pre-power phase is corrected. I disscused this at the time with a cable maker who was surprised i thought it was an issue but he altered the cable for me anyway.

The Levinson is worth a punt but please bear in mind my caveat.

Regards D Louth

 

I'm not sure that the "missing year" was good for the Levinson brand. They don't seem to have the momentum now that they're so tightly wrapped under the Harman wing, and the "moonlight flit" aspect of the relocation didn't help their corporate image (at least in my eyes).

But technically the stuff was always pretty well screwed together and sounded good. There's a fair amount of negative comment on various fora, but I do wonder whether there's a bit of envy and inverse snobbery going on - as in "see here, I cobbled this together using the bits out of an old Dansette radiogram and it stomps all over that arety-farty shop stuff".

 

Thanks guys.

DLouth - will the phase issue arise if I'm using single-ended connections between pre and source? I only have a CDP and Turntable, and neither of these have balanced connections so would I be right in thinking that this problem shouldn't affect my system with the ML in situ?

Cheers

Neil

 

Hi corruption

Yes you are right ,single ended (rca) does not suffer this ,very slight connection issue. Only balanced(xlr) is affected depending on where it is made ,designed. However if you are connecting the pre to a power or active speakers via an xlr connection ,then you need to know how that xlr socket is wired . Most good instruction books have that info and if not the manufacturer will know.

The pre will be very good connected via rca's but will take a jump in quality if you ever use it with balanced kit and hooked up via xlr. Rca to xlr converters are not going to give the same results so don't waste money on one or an adaptor, it does not give the same result IMHE.

Regards D Louth

 

Many of Levinson's products include a phase-inversion (polarity) switch. Worth checking the particular model if you feel it's important to have the flexibility.